Annihilation: Weird Fiction’s Foray into Film
It’s always difficult to transition a work of fiction from one medium to another. This is made more difficult when your source material flaunts the genre of “Weird Fiction” like a spiked mohawk at a rodeo.
Jeff VanderMeer, author of Annihilation, has been named the “King of Weird Fiction” by the New Yorker. He has edited, with his wife Ann, The Weird and The New Weird anthologies acting as must-reads for those interested in the subgenre.
It’s sufficient to say this man has championed the odd and unique in a land dominated by James Patterson, Lee Childs, and the 7th-grade reading level.
So, to transition this particular type of story to film would be precarious for even an independent studio.
Relatively well-known authors within the genre have yet to make a financial splash outside of literature. H.P. Lovecraft, China Mieville, and Thomas Ligotti have produced works that have been critically praised in their native medium, but have less than stellar performances when translated to film. Stuart Gordon’s Re-Animator, the 1985 adaptation of Lovecraft’s “Herbert West – Re-Animator,” is the only real exception having grossed $2,023,414 in the U.S. on a $900,000 budget.
Yet, the major studio backing and subsequent success of cerebral, atmospheric Sci-Fi movies such as Arrival, Blade Runner 2049, and Interstellar have allowed directors the ability to pitch left-of-center projects with a reasonable degree of success. Alex Garland took full advantage of this and the success of his stylistically similar directorial debut Ex Machina when adapting Annihilation.
In an interview with Nerdist, Alex Garland explained that his adaptation of the novel is unique in itself.
I thought the book was amazing and very strange and original and just surprising. But, there are really significant differences between the film and the book—the film is really like a dream of the book. That’s how I saw it in my head.
These significant differences add to the movie without subtracting from the atmosphere of the book. They help differentiate themes between movie and book while keeping the tone of ever-present uncertainty, eco-awareness, and isolation that links the two interpretations.
The ability of an adaptation to separate or replace peripheral details without losing its original’s identity is important if we want to see more unique tales, especially of the “Weird” variety.
The other, more obvious requirement is Box Office performance. Annihilation had an opening weekend gross of $11 million. This seems low when compared to its $40 million budget, but it met the apparent prediction of distributor Paramount.
Paramount seems to have foreseen the initial median sales and sold the international distribution rights to Netflix, who will have the movie available to stream in international markets by March 12th.
Interpreting this move is difficult.
Could this be a good sign for other mid-budget movies without a built-in audience? Or is this a fail-safe when studio-executives disagree with the final product of stubborn directors?
Either way, the final product being screened in theaters is a singular experience.
Garland’s direction is subtle, correlating with his slow, deliberate pacing. This gives the audience time to digest the beautiful, trippy visuals and ponder the self-destructive themes linking the environment and narrative.
The performances are exemplary. Ranging from Jennifer Jason Leigh’s understated psychiatrist (exactly how I pictured her in the book) to Gina Rodriguez’s inflammatory brute (a character not even in the book, but which expertly added to the tension of the story). If you had a giant woman crush on Tessa Thompson after her turn as anti-hero Valkyrie in Thor: Ragnarok like I did, she will impress in what is essentially a diametrically opposite role as an emotionally-troubled physicist. Natalie Portman’s grounded execution as an ex-Military biologist tethered the fantastic visuals to the tangible emotions of the group.
Whether talking about the making of the movie or the experience viewing it, you will never be at a loss of conversation topics. Annihilation benefits from so much in and around it. It is primed to become a genre staple. With luck it will pave the way for more unique, ambitious tales.
I think we can all agree that we’ve gotten full at the all-you-can-stomach super-hero buffet.